Presently
pending is a motion for summary judgment by the sole
defendant in this case, CoreCivic. For the reasons stated
below the Magistrate Judge recommends that the motion be
granted and that any appeal from such a decision not be
certified as made in good faith.

BACKGROUND

The
Plaintiff filed his complaint against CoreCivic as the sole
defendant in this case on August 14, 2017 (Docket Entry 1).
The complaint alleges that on June 13, 2017, CoreCivic had an
outbreak of scabies due to the fact that they allowed females
to come into the facility without being screened for scabies
and also allowed female clothing to be washed with that of
male inmates without the use of bleach. He alleged that he
contracted scabies and was itching so bad that blood was
drawn and there are now scars on his legs. He alleged that he
was offered six pills, but that CoreCivic employees would not
tell him what the pills were and that they wanted the inmates
to sign a form saying they were not itching or the inmates
would go to segregation. He alleged that they were locked
down for three days and not allowed to use the telephone or
take a shower.

After
the Plaintiff completed an application to proceed in
forma pauperis he filed an amended complaint (Docket
Entry 4) using a court-provided form. In Section II-E the
Plaintiff checked yes on the box that he had presented the
facts of his complaint to the prison authorities through the
State grievance procedure.

In
paragraph F-1 he alleged he did this through informal sick
calls, and in paragraph 2 that the prison authorities
“want answer informal.”

He also
alleged in paragraphs H, I and J that he presented his
grievances to the detention facility authorities, again
through informal sick calls, and that the response of the
authorities who ran the detention facility “want
answers informal and gave me 6 pills for scabies.” In
his statement of facts, paragraph IV, he essentially repeated
the complaint about contracting scabies because female
prisoners were allowed to come straight from the street
without being sanitized before they entered the facility
where male inmates were housed.

On
initial review, the Court found that CoreCivic is a privately
held corporation under contract with the Metropolitan
Government of Nashville and Davidson County to operate the
Metro/ Davidson County Detention Facility. The Court further
held that concerning the Plaintiff's claim that he had
been infected with scabies there is a duty under the Eighth
Amendment for the county to provide prisoners with adequate
food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, recreation, and medical
care, citing Grubbs v. Bradley, 552 F.Supp. 1052
(1119-24) (M.D. Tenn. 1982), and that the Plaintiff had
therefore stated a colorable claim for relief under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915A.

A
scheduling order was entered in this case on November 7, 2017
(Docket Entry 13). In the scheduling order the Plaintiff was
specifically advised that a response to the motion for
summary judgment should respond to each ascertain of fact,
including whether it was disputed or not disputed for the
purpose of summary judgment, and that if the statement of
fact was disputed it would be supported by a specific
citation to the record.

The
Plaintiff was specifically warned that if a dispositive
motion was not responded to in a timely fashion it could
result in the Court taking the facts alleged in the motion as
true and granting the requested relief. The Plaintiff was
told that he could not simply rely on the allegations of his
complaint alone. Rather, the Plaintiff must show that there
is a genuine dispute of fact by citation to the record,
affidavit, deposition testimony, or otherwise.

The
motion for summary judgment (Docket Entry 21) was filed on
March 8, 2018. It was supported by a memorandum of law
(Docket Entry 22), a declaration of Mr. Aylward (Docket Entry
23). Mr. Aylward certified that he was an employee of
CoreCivic and charged with handling the grievance procedures
at the Metro/ Davidson County Detention Facility. He set
forth the grievance procedure at the institution and
certified that the Plaintiff filed some informal grievances
during his incarceration prior to August 9, 2017, which were
attached to his affidavit. He stated that none of the
informal grievances involved scabies. He specifically stated
that their records did not show that the Plaintiff filed any
grievances, formal or informal, or appeals, regarding scabies
prior to August 9, 2017. The Plaintiff's original
complaint, although filed on August 14, 2017, was dated by
the Plaintiff as signed on August 9, 2017.

CoreCivic's
motion (Docket Entry 21) also contained a declaration of Dr.
James Bridges, M.D. (Docket Entry 24). His affidavit details
the treatment the Plaintiff received while at the detention
facility and noted that he did request medical treatment due
to the fact that he reported that he had suffered from
psoriasis for the previous three years and that he was
evaluated for this condition on numerous occasions between
June 15, 2015, and October 17, 2017.

The
Defendant also filed the declaration of John Rychen (Docket
Entry 25). He stated that he was the Assistant Warden at the
detention facility during the times in question and provided
various policies enforced at the detention facility. He
stated that female inmates were examined upon incarceration
and that the detention facility separately washed the laundry
of female inmates from the laundry of male inmates. He stated
that sometime in approximately May or June 2017 some inmates
incarcerated at the detention facility declined to take a
preventative dose of Izermectin that was offered them and
that when they did they ...

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